The present invention relates to a computer aided design (CAD) system for arranging photovoltaic power generation modules to be installed on exterior, such as a roof and walls, of a building and, more particularly, to a CAD system for simulating an arrangement and electric connection of a plurality of solar cell modules and planning an arrangement of solar cell modules on a roof.
Recently, anathermal of the earth, exhaustion of fossil fuels, and radioactive contamination caused by accidents in nuclear power plants and radioactive wastes have become social issues, and the issues on the terrestrial environment and energy are rapidly collecting interests of many people. Under this situation, a solar cell, for example, which generates electric power from the solar ray that is an inexhaustible clean energy source, is anticipated as the energy source of tomorrow. Especially, solar batteries which can be installed on a roof of a residence were proposed recently and used more frequently than ever.
As for installation of solar batteries on a roof of a building, there are methods for setting racks or fixing members on a roof and fixing solar panels on it and methods for integrating photovoltaic power generation devices and roofing boards (referred to as xe2x80x9csolar panel roofing board modulexe2x80x9d hereinafter) and setting solar panel roofing board modules on roof boards instead of general roofing boards.
These solar cell modules, such as solar panels and solar panel roofing board modules, have configurations for outputting electrical power on the back (i.e., not on photo-receiving surfaces), and are connected to each other using wiring members, such as cables. The end of the cable of the connected solar cell modules is generally connected to a terminal board, called connection box, for connecting ends of cables of plural serial-connected solar cell module strings in parallel.
DC (direct current) power outputted from the plural solar cell module strings connected in parallel is inverted into AC (alternating current) power by a power inverter apparatus, called an inverter, and the AC power being consumed in the residence or sent to an electric power company in the reverse current connection.
Especially, the solar panel roofing board modules can be used in place of conventional roofing boards without solar batteries (referred to as xe2x80x9cgeneral roofing boardsxe2x80x9d hereinafter), since the solar panel roofing board modules function as general roofing boards, and it is necessary to install the solar panel roofing board modules in the same manner for installing the conventional roofing boards. However, the following problems arise when installation method for installing the general roofing boards is directly applied to installation of the solar panel roofing board modules.
(1) Since a solar panel roofing board module must not be cut, it must be arranged so that the entire solar panel roofing board module fits within an installable area of an installation surface (i.e., a roof). In a case of a hip roof, for example, since the width of the roof decreases toward a ridge from eaves, not so many solar cell modules can be installed.
(2) Since the surface of a solar panel roofing board module is covered by, e.g., resin or glass, it is necessary to arrange solar panel roofing board modules in a repetitive pattern to make a roof look attractive.
(3) Since it is necessary to satisfy rated condition of an electric device to be connected to solar panel roofing board modules, electrical connection and arrangement of solar panel roofing board modules should be decided while taking the rated condition into consideration.
When roofing with general roofing boards, there is freedom of deciding positions of the roofing boards at a job site and no blueprint showing an arrangement of the roofing boards is used. In contrast, a blueprint showing the arrangement of solar panel roofing board modules in which electric wiring is taken into account is necessary when installing solar panel roofing board modules for the aforesaid reasons.
Further, since a solar panel roofing board module is more expensive than a general roofing board, it is necessary to determine the precise number of necessary solar panel roofing board modules than the number calculated in a conventional manner of accumulating the area of each roofing board up to an area of the roof.
Especially, the aforesaid problem (2) is not specific to a solar panel roofing board module, but also a problem with solar cell module to be set on a rack.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide supporting method and apparatus for arranging solar cell modules capable of solving the aforesaid problems, and a computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium which stores the supporting method and configures a CAD system.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a computer processing method for designing an installation layout of solar cell modules on an installation surface in a photovoltaic power generation system characterized by comprising, a solar cell module information acquisition step (601, S701, S2001) of acquiring information on a solar cell module, an installation surface information acquisition step (602, S702, S2002-S2004) of acquiring information on an installation surface where the solar cell module is to be installed, an installation condition acquisition step (603, S704, S2006) of acquiring installation conditions of the solar cell module, an installation information calculation step (604, S705, S2008) of calculating installation information for arranging the solar cell module on the installation surface on the basis of information acquired in the solar cell module information acquisition step, the installation surface information acquisition step, and the installation condition acquisition step, and an installation information output step (605, S706, S2009) of outputting the installation information calculated in the installation information calculation step.
Further, according to the present invention, the foregoing object is also attained by providing a computer processing method for designing an installation layout of solar cell modules on an installation surface in a photovoltaic power generation system characterized by comprising an installation information calculation step (604, S705, S2008) having, a step of dividing the solar cell modules into groups, a step of calculating an installation position of each of the solar cell modules in accordance with predetermined rules, and a step of calculating an installation position of each of the group.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the foregoing object is also attained by providing a computer processing method for designing an installation layout of solar cell modules on an installation surface in a photovoltaic power generation system characterized by comprising an installation information calculation step (604, S705, S2008) having, a step of dividing the solar cell modules into groups, and a step of shifting positions of the solar cell modules by rows by a shift amount and a shift direction which are manually inputted or predetermined, whereby phases of the shift directions of adjoining blocks are opposite, and calculating installation information of the solar cell modules on the basis of the shifted positions.
Further, according to the present invention, the foregoing object is also attained by providing a processing apparatus for designing an installation layout of solar cell modules in a photovoltaic power generation system characterized by comprising, solar cell module information acquisition means (601) for acquiring information on a solar cell module, installation surface information acquisition means (602) for acquiring information on an installation surface where the solar cell module is to be installed, installation condition acquisition means (603) for acquiring installation conditions of the solar cell module, installation information calculation means (604) for calculating installation information for arranging the solar cell module on the installation surface on the basis of information acquired by the solar cell module information acquisition means, the installation surface information acquisition means, and the installation condition acquisition means, and installation information output means (605) for outputting the installation information calculated by the installation information calculation means.
Further, according to the present invention, the foregoing object is also attained by providing a processing apparatus for designing an installation layout of solar cell modules on an installation surface in a photovoltaic power generation system characterized by comprising installation information calculation means (604) having, means for dividing the solar cell modules into groups, means for calculating an installation position of each of the solar cell modules in accordance with predetermined rules, and means for calculating an installation position of each of the group.
Further, according to the present invention, the foregoing object is also attained by providing a processing apparatus for designing an installation layout of solar cell modules on an installation surface in a photovoltaic power generation system characterized by comprising installation information calculation means (604) having, means for dividing the solar cell modules into groups, and means for shifting positions of the solar cell modules by rows by a shift amount and a shift direction which are manually inputted or predetermined, whereby phases of the shift directions of adjoining blocks are opposite.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.